KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When Sporting Kansas City brought in Diego Rubio as a Young Designated Player in early March, they got a Chilean international with experience in Spain's second division and Portugal's top flight.
But if anyone expected the 22-year-old forward to step right in as an immediate replacement for the departed Krisztian Nemeth – that's not the way Sporting do things, manager Peter Vermes said, and not what they expect out of Rubio during his loan term from Spanish side Real Valladolid.
“Everybody has these ideas,” Vermes told reporters after Wednesday morning's training session.